This document discusses the benefits of incorporating creative dance and movement into early childhood education. It begins by describing how a creative dance class may involve imaginative activities like pretending to sail on boats or explore the jungle. It then discusses how movement is an important part of how young children learn and explore the world. The document outlines several benefits of creative dance for children, including physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and creative development. It also discusses how dance can be integrated into the curriculum to enrich learning. Incorporating movement into the classroom in this way has additional benefits like helping to address the obesity epidemic and nurturing creativity, which are important skills for future success.

1. If yo u w e r e to p e e k i n to m y c r e a tive d a n c e
c l a s s , you might see a teacher and preschoolers sitting with their legs crossed, swaying from side to side.
This activity in itself may not look particularly exciting.
However, if you realized that we are imagining ourselves on
a boat trip, riding the ocean waves, each carrying different
cargo in our boats and visiting exotic destinations along the
way, you would understand the enthusiastic smiles on the
children’s faces.
Or you might see us walking very slowly and quietly.
However, in our imaginations, we are creeping through the
jungle, trying to spot different animals. We move like each
animal we encounter—swimming, crawling, galloping, and
soaring. This is a glimpse of the excitement in store for
young children who experience creative dance.
Children move the instant they are born and the moment
they wake up every morning. Moving is one of the first
and most important ways infants and toddlers explore and
learn about the world, and this process continues as they
grow and develop. Why, then, is creative movement not
an integral part of every early childhood curriculum? My
theory is twofold.
First, teachers and society at large are less familiar
with dance than with the other performing arts. Second,
because some teachers may not have experience with
dance, they may be uncomfortable offering creative movement. They may think that bringing dance into the classroom will result in children moving randomly and without
noticing the other children. However, one of the gifts of
guided creative movement is that it helps children learn to
control their bodies and develop awareness of moving in a
space with other children. As children learn awareness and
body control through movement, they become familiar with
following instructions, listening for cues, and respecting
others as they move together in the shared space. Creative
movement can be a guidance tool teachers use in many
ways during the day (Gilbert 2002).
Young Children
The Power of C
Body part movement variations: “Can you march with your
arms up high?” “Can you clap? Touch your knees?” “Can
you march bending one knee and keeping the other leg
straight? On your tiptoes? Lying on your back with your
feet in the air?”
Spatial variations: “Can you march backwards? Low? High?”
“Can you turn?” “Can you march in a square pattern on
the floor?”
Time variations: “Can you march in slow motion?” “Can
you march for seven steps and then freeze? Let’s count
together.” “Now, march as fast as you can!”
What is creative movement?
Energy variations: “Can you march as if your feet are caught
in quicksand?” “Can you march and stomp through mud
puddles?” “Can you march as if you are in bare feet on a
Teachers and parents often ask this question. The terms
dance and movement are interchangeable when referring
to creative movement. Creative movement is an art form
whose medium is the human body in motion. The four
basic elements of dance are the body and its different
parts and range of movement, and space, time, and energy
(Stinson 1988). Understanding and using these four elements can open up a range of imaginative possibilities.
For example, teachers can enliven marching, a basic locomotor movement, by varying the four elements:
Connie Bergstein Dow, MFA, has performed and taught dance
in the United States and Latin America for 38 years. Connie is the
author of Dance, Turn, Hop, Learn! Enriching Movement Activities for Preschoolers. conniebdow@gmail.com.
30
Photos © Kevin Wauligman. Illustrations © Diane Greenseid.
®
2, 3
Young Children

2. The Performing Arts: Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years
sraeY ylraE eht ni retaehT dna ,ecnaD ,cisuM :strA gnimrofreP ehT
and Movement
Creative Dance
hot blacktop driveway on a summer day?” “Can you march
without making a sound when your feet touch the floor?”
The possibilities are endless. Children can perform the
variations according to their individual abilities and imaginations. Creative movement gives children opportunities to
move in new ways and helps them learn that there can be
more than one solution to a question, a problem, or a task.
Dance can have a powerful impact in children’s daily
lives because it is both a physical activity and a vehicle for
self-expression. It offers the rich experience of exploring
and creating, with the added benefits of lively movement.
Here are some reasons to encourage children to dance.
Equipment. Movement activities require little in the way
of equipment, and most items are available in early childhood classrooms. The ideal space, such as a gym or indoor
play area, is clear of obstacles and well defined. However,
with some advance planning, teachers can adapt movement
activities to smaller, irregular spaces—even those with
Young Children
obstacles such as bookshelves, chairs, or play equipment.
In these situations, choose activities that children can do
while staying within their own personal spaces, such as
learning about opposites: “While staying in your spot, can
you show me the opposites, backward and forward? High
and low? Straight and crooked? Little and big? Tired and
energetic? Hello and good-bye?” Incorporate the obstacles
when the children move out of those spaces: “Let’s march
around the bookcase!”
Other requirements are a small drum, tambourine, or
other device for giving auditory cues and one for giving visual cues, like a drawing of a stoplight or stop sign.
Musical accompaniment enlivens a dance session, so a CD
or MP3 player is beneficial. Given these few requirements, it
is easy to include movement sessions in every early childhood setting.
Accommodating children with special needs. Most movement activities can be modified to allow all children to
participate. Children can approach movement in individual
ways, according to each one’s imagination, ability, and
experience. For example, in a greeting activity that involves
waving different parts of the body, children with physical
disabilities can move the tongue, eyelids, fingers, or toes. A
jumping activity can include children in wheelchairs when
they move their head, shoulders, arms, or fingers. In an
alphabet game in which children use their bodies to form
letter shapes, the teacher can guide children with special
needs in using part of the body, like the fingers, instead of
the whole body. Or a child can hold up or point to a picture
of the letter in order to be an active participant in the experience. Dance stories, during which children use movement
to explore ideas and elaborate on a book, story, poem, or
song, let children of all abilities respond to the events and
characters in a story. (For more information, see “Creative
Dance Starters for Young Children,” page 35.)
Movement specialist Rae Pica emphasizes the importance of making movement accessible: “Given the increasing emphasis on accountability and academics, physical
Creative movement gives children
opportunities to move in new ways
and helps them learn that there
can be more than one solution to a
question, a problem, or a task.
31

3. activity is in danger of falling by the wayside in the early
childhood curriculum. Indeed, more and more early childhood professionals say they have trouble fitting movement
into the program because they’re too busy preparing children for academics. Developmentally appropriate practice
dictates that we educate the whole child. Furthermore,
academics and physical activity are not mutually exclusive”
(2006, 12).
Curriculum enrichment
Movement sessions provide the perfect forum for integrating physical activities with other areas of the curriculum. Because children can approach many subjects through
movement, it is a good vehicle for teaching themed sessions, such as weather, animals, transportation, and colors,
and encompassing all learning domains—physical, socialemotional, and cognitive—and potentially addressing early
learning standards. Here are some examples.
During an exploration of shapes, children can use their
bodies to form circles, squares, triangles, or other shapes;
walk or march making floor patterns such as figure eights,
straight lines, and zigzag lines;
or jump and make shapes in
the air, like an X or Y. While
playing a dance/freeze game,
children can dance freely until
the teacher stops the music
and calls out instructions:
“Freeze in the shape of the letter T !” “Freeze while balancing
on one straight leg, with the
other leg crooked!” “Freeze in
a twisty shape!” “Freeze in a
wide shape!” “Freeze in a low
shape!”
32
When children are fidgety, try integrating movement
into a learning game, like a counting game: “Let’s count to
five while we fidget. Now let’s count to seven” or a game
of opposites: “Fidget as much as you can, and when I
clap my hands, freeze!” “Don’t move a muscle! Now fidget
again as fast as you can!” “Can you fidget in slow motion?”
Fidgeting can become a vocabulary game: “What
is another word for
fidget? Squirm! Jiggle!
Wiggle!” Intersperse
movement games like
these throughout the
children’s day for rich
learning opportunities.
Dance and movement
educator Mimi Brodsky
Chenfeld addresses
integrating movement
and curriculum, stating,
“Every idea is a universe
of possibilities. Every
idea, lesson, concept
can be enriched by
movement, by dance.
Connecting movement
to all areas of the curriculum, to all skills, is
natural. The arts are the
connective tissue that
holds our spirits intact”
(Chenfeld 2005, 51).
Physical development
While participating in
creative movement activities, children learn to control their bodies. They become aware of how fast they are
moving, how to speed up and slow down, how to stop and
start, and how to control their bodies when they change
direction. They learn important spatial concepts as well.
Creative dance helps children learn to move in their own
personal spaces, to be aware of other children’s personal
spaces, and to respect others as everyone together moves
in a shared space. When children become used to these
unwritten understandings about space and movement, they
carry them over to other daily activities (Stinson 1988).
Guided creative movement helps young children learn
new motor skills and practice, reinforce, and build on those
they already use. Because children especially love using
large, expansive movements, they enjoy practicing large
motor skills such as walking, marching, galloping, tiptoeing,
hopping, jumping, turning, and moving across the floor in
Young Children

4. The Performing Arts: Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years
sraeY ylraE eht ni retaehT dna ,ecnaD ,cisuM :strA gnimrofreP ehT
many other ways. Children who are 5 and 6 can add
skipping and leaping to their repertoire of gross motor
skills.
As you become comfortable leading children in
creative movement and borrowing ideas from dance,
you will find that children look forward to repeating,
changing, and discovering new ways to approach
basic motor skills. In doing so, they improve their
coordination, body control, balance, stamina, and
overall strength.
Movement as an
antidote to obesity
Health experts have been sounding the alarm
about the obesity epidemic among children in the United
States. First Lady Michelle Obama has introduced a major
initiative to address this problem, “calling obesity an expidemic and one of the greatest threats to America’s health
and economy” (Hellmich 2010, D-4). In 2005, the Institute of
Medicine (IOM) reported that “one-third (33.6 percent) of
American children and adolescents are either obese or at
risk for becoming obese. . . . Overweight and obese children
and teens are much more likely to become overweight or
obese adults. These kids also have greater risk for high
cholesterol, high blood pressure, bone and joint problems,
poor self-esteem and other health, social and psychological
problems” (RWJF 2006, 1).
Experts offer many ideas for tackling
obesity, including creating task forces
at the state, local, and national levels to
study and coordinate efforts and establishing policies on the types of food and beverage advertising aimed at children age 12
and younger (RWJF 2006). Doctors and other
health experts present two practical recommendations: teach children about healthy
food choices and offer opportunities for physical activity. The IOM report recommends mandating daily physical education in all schools
(RWJF 2006).
Keeping children active is a crucial part of
addressing this health crisis, and the good news
is that teachers don’t have to find extra time to
add dance to the day. You can incorporate it anytime, in a
large or small space, for greetings, circle time, transitions,
or waking up from a nap. For example, “Let’s wake up our
bodies! First let’s yawn and stretch. . . . Now let’s wake up
our faces. Open and close your eyes, then your mouth.
Stick out your tongue and move it around. Can you circle
your head one way, then the other?” (Continue with shoulders, arms, upper body, and legs.) “Now let’s stand up and
shake out all the parts at once!” Incorporating active, enjoyable, creative movement into classroom routines is just
what the health professionals ordered!
Social and emotional development
Listening and responding to directions, offering suggestions, exploring
others’ ideas while waiting for a turn,
and simply moving in a shared space
together are opportunities for learning and practicing social skills.
Young Children
Creative movement is a great medium for working with
children as a group. It is one of the best ways for children
to learn the social skills needed for working together
(Gilbert 2002). A teacher can offer movement tasks and
problems for children to solve individually: “How many
ways can you move from sitting to standing?” “How many
ways can you make a big curve like the letter C with your
body?” and as a group: “Imagine we are back in the days
of the dinosaurs. What would we see? Can you move like a
pterodactyl?”
33

5. Children learn that they each can contribute to the group
and that they can all work together to find a solution.
Listening and responding to directions, offering suggestions, exploring others’ ideas while waiting for a turn, and
simply moving in a shared space together are opportunities
for learning and practicing social skills.
Children can express themselves in movement sessions.
A child who cannot express his feelings verbally may find
an outlet in movement. The National Dance Education
Organization states, “Dance promotes psychological health
and maturity. Children enjoy the opportunity to express
their emotions and become aware of themselves and others through creative movement. A preschool child enters a
dance class or classroom with a history of emotional experiences. Movement within a class offers a structured outlet for
physical release of feelings and emotions” (NDEO 2009).
Creativity
In the years ahead, children will enter a global workforce.
We need to teach children to look at problems in new ways,
to practice critical thinking skills, and to learn collaboration and cooperation in finding new solutions. The National
Center on Education and the Economy states, “Whereas for
most of the 20th century the U.S. could take pride in having
the best-educated workforce in the world, that is no longer
true” (NCEE 2007, 24). In proposing solutions, the authors
point to the development of creative thinkers as one of the
keys to success: “Seeing new patterns and possibilities is the
essence of creativity” (NCEE 2007, 24).
In a speech at the 2006 TED (technology, entertainment,
and design) Conference, Sir Ken Robinson, an author and
international leader in educational and industrial reform
and innovation, said, “We are educating people out of their
creative capacities. Picasso once said that all children are
born artists. The trick is to remain an artist as we grow
up. I believe this passionately: We don’t grow into creativity; we grow out of it. Or, rather, we get educated out of it.
Creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and
we should treat it with the same status” (2006).
The creative arts, by definition, nurture these aspects of
developing children. Movement allows young children to
approach tasks through the body, or kinesthetically, and
come up with new questions, new answers, and innovative
solutions. (For more ideas for integrating movement into
young children’s day and nurturing the creative spirit, see
“Creative Dance Starters for Young Children.”)
The mind-body connection:
Movement and the brain
Research shows that movement and exercise can spark
the growth of new brain cells and facilitate learning (Ratey
2008). In Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head,
neurophysiologist Carla Hannaford explores the role of
the body and movement in the learning process. She con-
cludes, “Movement, a natural process of life, is now understood to be essential to learning, creative thought, and high
level formal reasoning. It is time to consciously bring integrative movement back into every aspect of our lives and
realize, as I have, that something this simple and natural
can be the source of miracles” (Hannaford 1995, 214).
In his book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of
Exercise and the Brain, Ratey states, “Exercise improves
learning on three levels: first, it optimizes your mind-set to
improve alertness, attention, and motivation; second, it prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another,
which is the cellular basis for logging in new information;
and third, it spurs the development of new nerve cells
from stem cells in the hippocampus” (2008, 53). Ratey says
about physical activity, “Building muscles and conditioning
the heart and lungs are essentially side effects. I often tell
my patients that the point of exercise is to build and condition the brain” (p. 3).
Evidence is mounting about the benefits of movement in
the learning process. Creative dance is the perfect vehicle
for enhancing the mind-body connection in young children
and an important part of early education. Once educators
become familiar with movement and its many benefits,
instead of asking, “What is creative movement?” the question will be, “Why not creative movement?”
Chenfeld, M.B. 2005. Education is a
moving experience: Get movin’! In
Spotlight on young children and the
creative arts, ed. D. Koralek, 50–51.
Washington, DC: NAEYC.
Gilbert, A.G. 2002. Teaching the three
Rs through movement experiences.
Silver Spring, MD: National Dance
Education Organization.
Hannaford, C. 1995. Smart moves:
Why learning is not all in your
head. Arlington, VA: Great Ocean
Publishers.
Hellmich, N. 2010. Michelle
Obama to fight child obesity
at grass roots: New initiative
will empower families and communities to live
healthier. USA Today, January 21.
NCEE (National Center on Education and the Economy.) 2007. Tough
choices or tough times: The report of the New Commission on the Skills
of the American Workforce. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
NDEO (National Dance Education Organization). 2009. Standards for
dance in early childhood. Silver Spring, MD: Author.
Pica, R. 2006. Physical fitness and the early childhood curriculum.
Young Children 61 (3): 16.
Ratey, J.J. 2008. SPARK: The revolutionary new science of exercise and
the brain. New York: Little, Brown.
RWJF (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). 2006. Institute of Medicine
report: Progress in preventing childhood obesity: How do we measure
up? www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=18250%20
Robinson, K. 2006. Schools must validate artistic expression: Creativity is a key part of the educated mind. Speech presented at the TED
Conference, February, in Monterey, California. www.edutopia.org/takechance-let-them-dance.
Stinson, S. 1988. Dance for young children: Finding the magic in movement.
Washington, DC: American Alliance for Health and Physical Education.
Copyright © 2010 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See Permissions and Reprints online at
.

6. The Performing Arts: Music, Dance, and Theater in the Early Years
sraeY ylraE eht ni retaehT dna ,ecnaD ,cisuM :strA gnimrofreP ehT
Creative Dance Starters for Young Children
Just about anything can be an impetus for children to move
and dance, creating a learning experience as well as a playful and lively physical activity.
Greetings and hello games
“Let’s wave to each other with
our hands. What other parts of
your body can you use to wave?”
“Can you wave with all the parts
at once?”
Circle time
movement games
“Do you know
the game Telephone? You whisper a word in your
neighbor’s ear, and she
passes it along to the next person. This movement game is like that, except we will be passing along
Begin with something simple, like crossing and
uncrossing your arms. The next person watches, turns
to his neighbor, and performs the same movement.
Children pass it along till it goes all the way around the
circle. Repeat until everyone has had a chance to introduce a movement.
At the end, review all the movements with the children
in the order they created them, and do them sequentially
all together. Try them standing, play some music, and performing the movements together becomes a dance!
3. Read the book aloud to the class. Then ask the children
to go to a personal space. Before you begin reading again,
remind them to be aware of others
in the shared space.
4. Play the music. In the order they
happen, retell the highlights of the
story (using the 5–7 images you
chose) and call out movement
prompts. Allow each section to
develop. The children will naturally
think of variations as they relive
the story through movement. Pick
up on these, and add your own
ideas, so that each section is fully
explored. Then, move on to the
next movement prompt.
5. Bring the story to a conclusion. You can do this through
to an idea in the story, to come together in a circle, or to
return to their original spots. Hold a follow-up discussion
about the story or about their movement experiences.
Themes
Pick up on your daily and weekly themes, and add movement to any topic the children are exploring. For example, for
the theme spring, prompt children to dance the making of a
garden: dig the holes, plant the seeds, water and weed, watch
Transitions
“Today we are going to think about how animals move. Think
of your favorite animal, and I am going to ask you one by one
to move like that animal as you go to your cubby to put on your
coat.” Use cues for signaling the start and stop for each child’s
movement. For the next several days, continue this activity
during transitions. Try narrowing the choices each day: animals
Props
Descriptions of movement images abound in children’s
literature. Here are guidelines for creating a dance story:
1. Select 5–7 images in a book (or song, poem, or story) that
could spark movement ideas, such as descriptions of a character, pictures or words that depict action, or other images to
spur the imagination. Through the exploration of movements,
children can bring the story to life.
2. Choose music for the dance story. Use a quiet piece, preferably an instrumental, for the background, and then intersperse it with a more upbeat song or instrumental selection
for the more active sections of the story.
Young Children
35
Scarves, streamers, shakers, costumes, small musical
animals, pipe cleaner bracelets with colorful ribbons tied to
them, pompoms, hats, and any items the children make.
Quiet-down activities
Bring each activity to a quiet conclusion. You could ask
the children to freeze in a shape (connected to the theme) at
ity about winter, prompt: “Can you freeze in the shape of a
Young Children
35